"The best answer is really, I’m American. My particulars may be unusual or unique, but a lot of us don’t come from any one place. A lot of us have moved around, or our families are immigrants, or we’ve teetered on a boundary of social class, or we have a foot in two different cultures."
So true. I left my other comment before I finished reading, naturally, but this was a great one. It heartens me every time to remember I'm not alone in still believing in us. Our flag may be a bit bedraggled, but dang it, it's still there.
I loved this essay, especially your point that there is more that unites us than divides us (and I also liked the quote noting that Black and white Americans are more like each other than they are like people from any other country). Living overseas has only reinforced this point for me: We Americans do indeed have a national character, and our friendly openness and willingness to shake things up are sorely needed in the world!
Hah, I did fourth-themed nails too! Basic bishing, ftw!! If I knew how, I'd include a pic, but I don't, so wompwomp. My toddler *loves* them, though, because they were sparkly and had fireworks on them. : P
I never got the hate on the SSB. It's a banger. Easily my third favorite anthem (behind France and the Soviet Union). It's an underrated singalong too.
My biggest problem with the anthem is all the singers who try to Marvin/Whitney it and don't have the talent. Painful.
I've always found the Italian one kind of disappointing, personally -- possibly because I've only ever really seen it belted out in that vague we-don't-actually-know-all-the-words way by greasy soccer players and it always sounds rushed, one-dimensionally march-y and atonal in those situations. If you've got any particular youtube links you'd recommend to change my mind, I'd be into it! I love the drama of the SSB & La Marseillaise (whoops spell-check got me), so I'm definitely an anthem-loving person (and I feel guilty since I'm a citizen).
I hear you -- best to drink more champagne at that point, I've found. The whole history of the French Revolution has... a lot of those moments. Moments that make you go, "I'm sorry... y'all did WHAT now in the name of 'liberty, equality & brotherhood'??"
I used to live in Ireland! The only time I ever had trouble following someone's accent was in Belfast. Part of it felt like a practical joke to me, like this guy was actually speaking gibberish and daring me to call him on it.
Thanks for the Albert Murray reference. I was not familiar with him, but just read his Times obituary, and he seems like an important if sadly neglected figure for our times.
I share your feelings toward the anthem. People glibly dismiss it by fixating on the (completely decontextualized) word "bombs," or with reference to verses in the obscure extended version most people have never heard, or by complaining it is hard to sing. But it is quite stirring, much more so in my opinion than "America the Beautiful" or (ugh) "God Bless America."
Irish dance is something I watch all the time. The last thing before COVID I took kids to Celtic Woman--a sort of hokey, but also beautiful touring group.
I bet we saw (Athens, GA) the same troop. Do you follow the Gardiner brothers? I think they are connected to River Dance which I envy you saw..in Chicago!
My father went to York. I went to Willowbrook. In my day the towns were very isolated and the interstates weren't yet there. Now Dupage--farms only 50 years ago--is a vast suburb of Chicago. My dead family resides at Queen of Heaven in Hillside so I have been back as recently as 2019.
I'm a boy so I'm not allowed to do my nails. So jealous.
I went to a college in upstate NY that had a pretty good men's hockey team, with the great majority of the team members from Canada. So the Canadian national anthem was played before every home game, along with the US anthem. I learned it and belted it out with the rest of the fans, and I still like it better than ours:
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
But in 2018, "thy sons" got officially replaced by "of us" to make it gender neutral.
I'm against it, at least until Canadian boys get to do their nails.
I grant you permission to paint thy nails! My youngest boy has pink toenails right now thanks to our neighbor doing her nails in front of him. To kids, it’s just body art. As long as we leave them be and let them have fun.
Absolutely -- and, really, those rules are silly anyway. The best part of the 70s-90s were all those dudes with eyeliner & black nails (I love me some goth boys).
My son loves everything about me doing my nails, and it saddens me greatly that this simple joy might be an issue for him later on. I hope we've progressed enough by then that it won't be, but...I suspect this country might be brewing a not-entirely-baseless gender backlash. We'll see what the future holds, I guess. For now, I paint one or two of his nails occasionally when he asks. (More would be a pain, given he can't sit still.)
"The best answer is really, I’m American. My particulars may be unusual or unique, but a lot of us don’t come from any one place. A lot of us have moved around, or our families are immigrants, or we’ve teetered on a boundary of social class, or we have a foot in two different cultures."
So true. I left my other comment before I finished reading, naturally, but this was a great one. It heartens me every time to remember I'm not alone in still believing in us. Our flag may be a bit bedraggled, but dang it, it's still there.
I loved this essay, especially your point that there is more that unites us than divides us (and I also liked the quote noting that Black and white Americans are more like each other than they are like people from any other country). Living overseas has only reinforced this point for me: We Americans do indeed have a national character, and our friendly openness and willingness to shake things up are sorely needed in the world!
Hah, I did fourth-themed nails too! Basic bishing, ftw!! If I knew how, I'd include a pic, but I don't, so wompwomp. My toddler *loves* them, though, because they were sparkly and had fireworks on them. : P
(Oh, and yours look great, btw!)
Yes, the nails are beautiful.
I never got the hate on the SSB. It's a banger. Easily my third favorite anthem (behind France and the Soviet Union). It's an underrated singalong too.
My biggest problem with the anthem is all the singers who try to Marvin/Whitney it and don't have the talent. Painful.
Also I should note by the Soviet Anthem I mean The Internationale, not the Stalinist successor.
And La Marseilles is on the anthem Mount Rushmore just for this:
https://youtu.be/cOeFhSzoTuc
That scene always makes me cry. I don't think today people who dislike the SSB have any idea about the role of anthems over the years.
Me too. You probably know this, but the actress singing and crying, Madeleine Lebeau, had to flee France with her Jewish husband, Marcel Dalio. Those patriotic tears were real. https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2017/winter/feature/in-casablanca-madeleine-lebeau-became-forever-the-face-french-resistance
No, I did not know about Lebeau. Thank you!
This post made me exclaim Oh! Can a DanT think of one other nation whose anthem is terrific?
If I'm filling out a Mount Rushmore, fourth spot goes to either Italy (I am highly biased) or Brazil. They're both absolute bangers.
I've always found the Italian one kind of disappointing, personally -- possibly because I've only ever really seen it belted out in that vague we-don't-actually-know-all-the-words way by greasy soccer players and it always sounds rushed, one-dimensionally march-y and atonal in those situations. If you've got any particular youtube links you'd recommend to change my mind, I'd be into it! I love the drama of the SSB & La Marseillaise (whoops spell-check got me), so I'm definitely an anthem-loving person (and I feel guilty since I'm a citizen).
As a Francophile and wannabe francophone, I’m a fan of the Marseillaise. But the bit about impure blood watering our fields is a bit…intense.
I hear you -- best to drink more champagne at that point, I've found. The whole history of the French Revolution has... a lot of those moments. Moments that make you go, "I'm sorry... y'all did WHAT now in the name of 'liberty, equality & brotherhood'??"
I used to live in Ireland! The only time I ever had trouble following someone's accent was in Belfast. Part of it felt like a practical joke to me, like this guy was actually speaking gibberish and daring me to call him on it.
We’re from Belfast 😂
I should've known from your wiley North Irish ways!
Thanks for the Albert Murray reference. I was not familiar with him, but just read his Times obituary, and he seems like an important if sadly neglected figure for our times.
I share your feelings toward the anthem. People glibly dismiss it by fixating on the (completely decontextualized) word "bombs," or with reference to verses in the obscure extended version most people have never heard, or by complaining it is hard to sing. But it is quite stirring, much more so in my opinion than "America the Beautiful" or (ugh) "God Bless America."
I grew up in Illinois and went to undergrad in Chicago at Uof I-Chicago.
I lived in Woodridge! DuPage county. But I took Irish dance out on 111th St in Chicago proper.
Irish dance is something I watch all the time. The last thing before COVID I took kids to Celtic Woman--a sort of hokey, but also beautiful touring group.
My parents saw Celtic Woman last time it came through town in NC before Covid. I saw a Riverdance at the Auditorium Theater. https://www.broadwayinchicago.com/theatre/auditorium-theatre/
I bet we saw (Athens, GA) the same troop. Do you follow the Gardiner brothers? I think they are connected to River Dance which I envy you saw..in Chicago!
I don’t know the Gardiner brothers!
You will like their work--
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbNv1xoB5Ft/
I lived in York Center (Dupage County). At that time it was all farms and I even went to a 1-room school. It was an unusual unincorporated area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Center%2C_Illinois
Dupage cty by the time you were born, I bet had grown.
Super close to Woodridge! My high school played York high school in sports.
My father went to York. I went to Willowbrook. In my day the towns were very isolated and the interstates weren't yet there. Now Dupage--farms only 50 years ago--is a vast suburb of Chicago. My dead family resides at Queen of Heaven in Hillside so I have been back as recently as 2019.
I'm a boy so I'm not allowed to do my nails. So jealous.
I went to a college in upstate NY that had a pretty good men's hockey team, with the great majority of the team members from Canada. So the Canadian national anthem was played before every home game, along with the US anthem. I learned it and belted it out with the rest of the fans, and I still like it better than ours:
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
But in 2018, "thy sons" got officially replaced by "of us" to make it gender neutral.
I'm against it, at least until Canadian boys get to do their nails.
I grant you permission to paint thy nails! My youngest boy has pink toenails right now thanks to our neighbor doing her nails in front of him. To kids, it’s just body art. As long as we leave them be and let them have fun.
Absolutely -- and, really, those rules are silly anyway. The best part of the 70s-90s were all those dudes with eyeliner & black nails (I love me some goth boys).
I married a goth-boy lite 😂 he had an eye of ra ring and painted nails when I met him. ❤️
Be still my heart...
"I'm a boy so I'm not allowed to do my nails."
My son loves everything about me doing my nails, and it saddens me greatly that this simple joy might be an issue for him later on. I hope we've progressed enough by then that it won't be, but...I suspect this country might be brewing a not-entirely-baseless gender backlash. We'll see what the future holds, I guess. For now, I paint one or two of his nails occasionally when he asks. (More would be a pain, given he can't sit still.)
We had tix to Tampa Bay games so saw Toronto Blue Jays a lot and got to sing everytime.